Indiana State completes best season of volleyball
in six years; solid nucleus returning for 2011
KEVIN JENISON
GoSycamores.com
NORMAL, ILL. ? In their final game of the 2010 season, the Indiana State Sycamores fought hard for every point but still fell to the home standing Illinois State Redbirds 3-0 (25-20, 25-22, 29-27) in front of 950 fans at Redbird Arena on Friday.
The Redbirds were in a must-win situation as they battled for the sixth, and final, spot in the upcoming State Farm Missouri Valley Conference Tournament and Indiana State made Illinois State earn every point.
The Sycamores finish the 2010 campaign with an 11-20 mark overall and a 3-15 record in the Missouri Valley Conference. The 11 victories are the most wins for an Indiana State volleyball team since the 2004 squad won 12 games. The three conference wins equals the 2009 Sycamore league record but Indiana State does return all but one player for the 2011 season including five of the six starters.
Sophomore outside hitter Morgan Dall (Aviston, Ill.) led the Indiana State effort Friday night with 15 kills, an assist, one service ace, nine digs, and two blocks. Dall finishes the 2010 campaign with 469 kills, a 4.11 kills per set average, scoring 511.5 points, and averaging 4.49 points per set, all the fourth best single season performance in school history. She also set the school record in total attacks for a season with 1,441.
Junior middle blocker Stacy Qualizza (Crown Point, Ind.) had eight kills, an assist, and a block for Indiana State. Qualizza finishes the season with the seventh best single season hitting percentage in school history at .289 and is currently tied for third on the career hitting percentage top 10 list with Megan Mirs at .262.
Sophomore middle blocker Auriel Armstrong (Long Beach, Calif.) had seven kills, three digs, and a block while sophomore middle blocker Shea Doran (Martinsville, Ind.) had six kills, three assists, and a block.
Junior setter Shelbi Fouty (Plainfield, Ind.) had 34 assists in the game Friday and added 14 digs for her ninth double-double of the season. She also had two kills. Fouty accumulated 716 assists during the conference game (11.02 assists per set) and has been at the top of the Valley leader board in assists in MVC games throughout the year.
Junior Kiya James (Indianapolis, Ind.) led the Sycamore defense with 17 digs which gave her 496 this season, the fifth best single season performance in school history. James is currently fifth on the career dig list at Indiana State with 1,204 digs.
Indiana State recorded the first point of the game and led the first set 2-1 after a Dall kill but that was the last lead for the Sycamores in the opening set. Illinois State led by as many as six several times throughout the set but each time Indiana State would fight back. The Sycamores trailed 16-14 after a kill by senior Ana Maira Charun (Lima, Peru) who was playing her final game as member of the ISU volleyball team Friday night. The Redbirds score the next three points and held off several more ISU rallies to post a 25-20 win.
The Sycamores never led in the second set and were able to tie the score just one; but Indiana State was never far behind the Redbirds. Illinois State built a five point lead midway through the set but the Sycamores fought back to trail 19-17 after a Qualizza kill. The Redbirds rallied to take a 24-19 lead but Indiana State denied Illinois State set point three times before falling 25-22.
The third set was tied 17 times with four lead changes. Indiana State's took an 18-17 after a Dall kill tied the set at 17 and sophomore outside hitter Christie Fullenkamp (Botkins, Ohio) knocked one down to put the Sycamores in front. Illinois State tied the set at 18 but Armstrong gave the Sycamores their last lead of the set with a kill that put Indiana State up 19-18.
Two Indiana State errors put the Redbirds back on top 20-19. After a Sycamore time out, a Fullenkamp kill tied the set at 20. Illinois State scored two more points before Indiana State called their second time out of the set. Two quick kills by Charun and Dall brought ISU back to a tie with the Redbirds but Illinois State answered with two straight to regain the advantage.
The Sycamores fought back and denied Illinois State the set and game point, battling back to tie the set at 24 on a Fouty kill. Illinois State would regain the advantage only to have Indiana State came back to tie the score three more times before the Redbirds were able to close out the set 29-27 and win the game three sets to none.
Indiana State featured a young team for the 2010 campaign and will feature a much more veteran squad in 2011 with three juniors (Fouty, James, and Qualizza) returning to lead a solid group of returning sophomores (Armstrong, Dall, Doran, and Fullenkamp) along with several freshman who made a big impact on the ISU fortunes this season including Monique Morris and Loni Mackinson.
